Well, what do you know. It appears that efforts to discourage people from stealing vehicles are working.
Statistics from the FBI show that 956,846 motor vehicles were stolen in 2008 or 315 cars for every 100,000 people. The Detroit News article continues with half the rate experienced in 1991 when 1.66 million vehicles were stolen.
Analysts say that the reason why thefts have gone down is due to car manufacturers including ignition immobilizers in their cars. The more sophisticated anti-theft systems, which are also offered by the aftermarket as well, combine with more diligence on the part of authorities seems to have helped to reduce vehicle theft to a 20 year low. And this despite the fact that the number of vehicles on the road has doubled during that period. Note the technology includes more sophisticated alarm systems as well as GPS tracking devices which did not exist 20 years ago.
Our take? Sorry to be cynical, but give the car thieves some time and they will figure out how to beat some of these new technologies. Then the automakers and aftermarket companies will come up with even more advanced technology to stop them and on and on and on. This cat and mouse game been going on since the invention of the wheel.
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